Top 20 electricals websites by online share of voice

Top performers

Although Argos sits in the number-one position, its top spot isn’t set in stone, with Currys coming an extremely close second.

If both Dixons Carphone brands were combined, their 12.96% share of voice online would easily make them the biggest player.

Carphone Warehouse dominates in the ‘Smart tech & phones’ category within electricals – an extremely valuable category to be part of.

Sixteen out of the top 20 most commercially valuable and highest volume search terms within the electricals space come from ‘Smart tech & phones’, including ‘iPhone X’ and ‘iPhone XS’, which carry millions of searches each month.

Interestingly, only two consumer technology brands appear in the top 20, but it will be no surprise that they are two of the largest tech companies in the world, and two of the most recognisable brand names globally – Apple and Samsung.

Google appears in 19th position, under separate subdomains support.google.com – where it helps consumers set up Android phones – and play.google, where consumers can download apps for their phones.

The importance of product information

Two non-ecommerce product review websites – Trusted Reviews and TechRadar – are included in the top-20 ranking, showing the consumer need for in-depth product knowledge and reviews before making an electrical purchase.

Retailers can learn from the inclusion of these websites and should ensure that their own provide detailed product information in order to satisfy tech-savvy shoppers.

Share of voice over time

By the end of the quarter, Argos had maintained first position, challenged only by Apple, which saw a dramatic decline in late September, falling by more than 2% not long after the release of the new iPhone.

After the launch of any new iPhone product, there is a huge amount of increased competition for Apple product terms, resulting in Apple losing visibility for its own terms.

Though normally performing well with flagship terms, Apple does not feature prominently for ‘iPhone reviews’ or ‘iPhone for sale’, with auxiliary resellers and review sites hoovering up these terms.

Ironically, up until a day after the release of the new iPhone XS, Apple did not perform highly for the term ‘new iPhone’ – the very search term every keen customer was making prior to knowing the new product’s name. TechRadar had the strongest performance here.

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Methodology

Using Pi Market Intelligence, more than 35,000 of the most commercially valuable online search terms within the retail sector have been analysed.

Each individual search term is given an Organic Value Score (OVS) to determine its commercial value and potential to convert. This is achieved by assessing key conversion metrics for each search term, including search volume, cost-per-click and competition in the market.